Surrounded by five of his teammates on National Signing Day, Ashbrook receiver Demetrius Oliver stopped to think for a moment about how far he and his longtime friends had come during their football careers.

“This is the time we’ve all been waiting for, and it felt great to finally experience it,” Oliver said.

The senior became one of the hundreds of athletes across the nation to make their college commitments official on Wednesday.

Oliver joined South Point running back Devan Robbins as the area’s athletes who accepted scholarships with Division I programs. Oliver is headed to Elon while Robbins inked with The Citadel. Both schools are members of the Southern Conference of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision.

Ashbrook was the busiest local high school as six football players signed. Defensive back Anthony Hambright plans to join Oliver at Elon as a preferred walk-on. Wide receiver Grant Stafford signed with Wingate while three others joined Limestone’s first recruiting class: linebacker/defensive lineman Chance Barnett, wide receiver Brian Jackson and wide receiver E.J. Vanderpuye.

“Family thing” for Oliver

Oliver thought it was neat to see all four of Ashbrook’s starting receivers take part in National Signing Day. Vanderpuye (756 yards, 8 TDs), Oliver (645 yards, 5 TDs), Stafford (625 yards, 4 TDs) and Jackson (394 yards, 3 TDs) led a spread offense that topped the Big South 3A Conference with 258.5 passing yards per game. Quarterback Tre Brice led the conference with 2,501 passing yards.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Oliver said his other college options were North Carolina A&T, Western Carolina, Limestone, Carson-Newman and others. A campus visit to Elon sold him.

“I loved the environment,” Oliver said. “From what I saw of my team, it’s guys I can see myself coming close with and kind of forming a family thing. It felt right. It felt like home.”

“Depression mode” ends for Robbins

Robbins started to get worried a few weeks ago because he had no offers on the table. It wasn’t until Jan. 25 that The Citadel first contacted him, and the scholarship offer wasn’t in hand until this past Sunday.

“It was a blessing to me because three weeks ago I didn’t know where I was going,” Robbins said. “I was kind of in depression mode and The Citadel was a great blessing for me.”

Robbins had previously drawn interest from Georgia Tech, Duke, North Carolina A&T, N.C. Central, Campbell, Tusculum and others but had received no other offers yet.

Robbins, a fan and coaches’ favorite in Belmont for not only his athleticism but also his respectful demeanor, feels like he has a chance to contribute soon at the military college in Charleston, S.C. The Bulldogs mostly run the triple option offense, the system Robbins has thrived in since the age of 10 in peewee football.

Page 2 of 2 - “They have no running backs, so I think that I could be a great filler for that,” Robbins said. “I’m very prepared for it because the run the same offense that South Point does.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound Robbins rushed for 598 yards and 13 touchdowns out of the wingback position this past season and caught nine passes covering 333 yards. Six of those receptions went for touchdowns as Robbins played a key role for a team that finished 12-1 and reached the third round of the state playoffs.

“With his 4.3 speed, they think he can step in there right away,” South Point coach Mickey Lineberger said. “To run that offense you have to be unselfish because you never know how many touches you’ll have, but Devan is very unselfish.”

Robbins will join former Clover quarterback Aaron Miller, who just completed his sophomore season at The Citadel.

Elsewhere

It was a big day for lineman locally as Cherryville’s Daniel Owens and Forestview’s Josh Mills each signed with Wingate while Highland Tech’s James Taylor signed with Limestone as part of the Gaffney, S.C., school’s first recruiting class.

Soccer

At least four area soccer players also signed national letters of intent Wednesday. Gaston Christian had a pair of signees in Karis Hoover (North Greenville) and Kathryn Smith (Barton).

East Gaston’s Caroline Bowman is headed to South Carolina-Beaufort. Ashbrook’s Nick Fuller signed with Belmont Abbey while his Green Wave teammate Ronnie Hernandez enrolled early at Limestone.